Andy Schleck regrets having to miss Canadian WorldTour races

The scheduled appearance of Andy Schleck at the GP Cycliste de Quebec and GP Cycliste de Montreal will not now take place, with the rider announcing on his Twitter account today that he has been forced to withdraw from the September 9th and 11th events.

“I have to withdraw from the upcoming races in Canada because of an untimely, but imperative dental operation at the bottom left wisdom tooth,” he indicated.

Schleck later commented via his Leopard Trek press officer, who told VeloNation that the rider would return to racing at the GP Wallonie on September 14th.

“I'm sorry not to be in Canada as I really like racing in North America,” said the rider. “I was curious and excited to meet the Canadian fans.”

The triple Tour de France runner-up recently competed in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and fired up his fans with a stage-long attack on day five. He was clear for much of the 170.2 kilometre stage to Breckenridge with last year’s Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) and Tom Peterson (Garmin-Cervélo), surged clear alone for several kilometres in the finale, was reabsorbed by his breakaway companions, then all four were caught 700 metres from the line.

He said afterwards that he was very impressed by the number and support of the fans, and was looking forward to the Canadian events. As a tthree-time Tour de France runner-up, he would have been the centre of attention at the events.

His brother Frank will also miss the races, but many other big European names will take part.